The Captain's Authority
"The internal broadcast advised us to remain in our seats. But I could not stay put because the water was coming up. So I came outside with my life-jacket on."
"I wonder why they didn't tell us to evacuate immediately."
57-year-old passenger on South Korean ferry
"People were shouting, Break the windows!' but the water came up too quickly and many could not come outside."
Kim Seong-muk, ferry passenger
"The water rushed in, up to my neck, and it was difficult to climb to the top of the boat because it was badly tilted."
"I saw shipping containers tossed off the ship's deck and floating in the water. I also saw a vending machine toppled and two girls trapped under it."
Kim Tae-young, student ferry passenger
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Kim Tae-young was in the ferry's cafeteria, and attested that many passengers remained in the cafeteria and game room when the ferry began its lean. The 6,825-tonne ferry Sewol had sailed from Incheon, west of Seoul, en route to the popular resort island of Jeju located 100 km off the south coast, when it sent out a distress signal on the morning of Wednesday, April 16. The ferry had a 920-passenger capacity, but was carrying roughly half that number.
It appears that the ship, operated by Cheonghaejin Marine, somehow sailed off course, and hit an underwater object with disastrous results. Its departure from Incheon had been delayed because of heavy fog. On the ferry besides its passengers and crew were 150 cars and trucks, somewhat below its capacity of 180.
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Even while the passengers became aware of something gone dreadfully wrong they were given instructions not to evacuate, to remain where they were. Among the passengers were 325 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, south of Seoul, embarking on a holiday. Of that number 75 have been known to have been rescued, while huge uncertainty surrounds the whereabouts of the others. The temperature of the water is around 12-C, likely to cause hypothermia in two hours.
South Korea's security ministry has stated that 174 passengers and crew had been rescued, and a handful of bodies recovered. Leaving about 284 people missing in the catastrophic sinking of the ferry. Passengers informed the media that the ship had started leaning heavily after a loud impact. The ferry later capsized and sank, only its top protruding. The ship's captain has apologized. It appears that he was one of the first to depart the ship.
That little fact of utter disregard for his responsibility toward those on the ship, and the instructions given to passengers that they should remain in their seats, speaks volumes about the professionalism of the captain, the ferry's crew and the company that operates the ferry. An executive at Cheonghaejin Marine Co., Kim Young-bung, proffered his company's "deepest apology", and somehow that has not produced much comfort to the parents collapsed in grief.
Labels: Disaster, South Korea
posted by Pieface @ Friday, April 18, 2014
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